Car-tank closure



April '10, 1928.

, R. W. JOY ET AL CAR TANK cLosURE Filed Sept. 4. 1.926

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V Patented Apr. 16, 1928.

UNITED sTATEs maaar w. .101?, ornnooxLYN,

' woon, maw Innen', .assleuons 'ro N-nwxoak, mi .vieron wnmouemax, or man marcan can. nm remar conm, rol' INI W YORK, N. Y., A COBPORATION F NEW JERSEY.

can-rm emanan.

Application l'ed September 4, 1950. Serial No. 133,088.

Our invention relates to car, tank closures and the like, and Ais especially concerned with the prevention of explosions or accidents in opening 'the covers of tanks in which pres-` sure may exist,-such as the tanks of tank cars used for transporting volatile fluids. It is an object of our invention to make it practically impossible for such 'a tank cover to be com letely opened or released while l0 there is s cient pressure in the tank to lift the cover, yet at the same time to allow the cover to be partly opened tovent the`pres sure. We a1m to provide asimple, convenient, rugged and inexpensive construction for.

thesepurposes; n

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention,- though it -is to be understood that the invention is not limited'to the exact details cf construction shown and. described, as it is obvious .that various modifications thereof within the sco lof the claims will-occur to persons s ed in the art.

In said drawings:V Fig. 1 is a plan view of a car tank dome closure convenientlyA embodying our invention, part of the cover being broken away to show the parte beneath more clearly;

Fig. 2 s ows a vertical section through the tank structure, the cover, and parts of the secur means shown 'in Fi 1, taken as indicated by the line 2`2 in t at ligure; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view showing the secu means and the associated parts of a5 the tan and cover in elevation, from the rilit of Fig. 1; Y

ig. 4 is a fragmentary'vertical sectional view taken through the tank and cover as indicated by the line 4--4 in Fig. 1.

o The drawing shows a car tank dome head 5 havingjtherein` a manhole opening with a ilanged manhole or domering 6 secured to said head 5 around the opening. The manhole cover 7 is adapted to seat on the reduced v D sitely bevel'led) ed e 8 of the manhole ("iii' 6, and has a der1 n ing annular flange 9 that lies within t e dome ring 6,-with some little clearance between. A gasket 10 for making a Apressure-tightjoint is shown ".50 between the, seating margin of the cover .7

. and the tank. ring seat 8,A with its inner edge i accommodated and engaged in a oove 11 at 'the root of the cover a' e 9. cover 7, it willpg opens an closes t` ward and,

by the clearance from 'the manhole opening, and is in 'the present instance swin abl mounted on the tank structure. For t is atter purpose the ring 6 1s provided with hinge lugs 12 an the cover 7 with corresponding hinge llugs 13, located between the dome hinge lugs 12. These hinge lugs 12 and 13 have vertically elongated openings fora pivot in 14. The cover 7 ma normally be hel'd tight shut on its' seat 8 y any suitable means, such as eye bolts 15 mounted on pivots 16 in airs of lu s 17, 17 on the dome ring 6. o secure t e cover 7 the bolts 15 are swung up between pairs of projecting ears or lugs 18 18 onthe cover 7, and their nuts 19 tightened down on'said lugs,as shown in Fi 1 and 4 for the bolt 15 just behind the inge connections 12, 13, 14. To release the cover 7, the nuts 19 are loosened and the bolts 15 swung outward into the position shown for most of them in Fig. 1.

In order to revent accidental blowing olf of the cover as the result of incautious loosening and releasing of the bolts 15, we provide additional securing or restraining means, adapted to limit the rise of the cover 7 from the ring; even after all the bolts 15 are released. e restraining ,means for this purpose comprises co-o rating parts on the cover 7 and on the tan structure 5, one of" which parts is preferably movable substantially orizontalxlg with reference to the cover or the ta opening. As shown in 1 and 2, the movable part consists of a og 20 pivoted von a stud 21 upstan 1n from a boss 22 on the cover 7,and secu by a cap plate orwasher 23 and a rivet 24 extending through the stud 21 and the boss 22.' The dog 20 co-operates with engagement means in the form of a socket 25 on the dome ring 6, which socket is in the present instance cast integral with a bridge portion 26, (Fig. 3) integrally interconnecting adjacent lugs 17. When the free end of the dog 20 is in this socket 25, it is impossible for the covei` 7 to rise further than allowed that exists between the dog 20 and the top of the socket when the cover is tightly closed; et when the -bolts 15 are released andthe cover raised to this limit, a ,suilicient opening is afforded to vent gas' pressureI from the tank without blowing out an of the liquid. I

n order to prevent the dog 20 from being disengaged from the socket 25 rematurely,

-rowedas compared with the general vertical internal heightof the socket, and is soy located that the dog will only lie opposite the opening when the cover-7 is in a suitable definite position. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the socket has only a single mouth opening 27, at its end which fronts forward in Figs. 1 and 2 and to the left in Fig. 3. As shown in Fi s. 2 and 3, this mouth opening 27 is located at an intermediate point in the height of the socket 25, somewhat below its top as well as somewhat above its bottom, .between u per and lower shoulders or lips 28, 28. hese lips 28, 28 are, in effect, limiting stops at each end of a recess formed in the face of the socketmember 25. When the cover is tightly closed as in Fig. 2,A the lower lip 28 stands directly in. front of the dog 20, so that it is impossible for the 'back 'on its seat 8,--whereupon it may -has been fully, vented from the' dog to be disenga ed from the socket 25 before the nuts 19 og the bolts 15 have all been loosened u Further, it will be apparent that in or er to swing the cover 7 on its hinge, it is necessary that all of the bolts 15 be freed from their engagement with the lugs 18. `Having released the bolts from their engagement with the lugs 18,. pressure within the tank will cause the cover to" rise and if this ressure is suicient to be dangerous, it wi vraise the cover until the dog 20 is elevated and positioned behind the upper shoulder 28 in the recess, the do bearing against the upper portion 25'- o said recess, 'and the cover will remain ,up- (lwith the dog 20 engaged and locked in t e top of the socket 25) -until the ressure so as to make release of the cover perfectly safe. This is indicated by the cover-7 droppiig lifted from the outside ,until the d 0 comes in line with the socket mouth (2g, so that said'dog can be swun out andA disen.A gaged. Thus completely re eased, the cover can be lifted w1 e open at once.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the end of the dog 20 is reduced for a portion thereof as indicated at 29 to facilitate the disen-7 gagement of* the dog from the socket 25.

t will be apparent that the dog`20` may be easily entered into the socket 25 when the cover is in closed position, but the removal of the dog from the socket sometimes offers a little diiculty due to the fact that the cover may be raised excessively. To eliminate this disadvantage and to provide an eas disengagement'for the dog the latter, as fore mentioned, is provided with the reduced end ortion.- When it is desired to remove the og from the socket, the cover is lifted to permit the do to swing on its pivot and out of the soc et and during i 1,eee,sea f such movement the dog 20 must clear the lip 28; The tendency is to elevate the cover too much whereupon the up er face of the the upper portion '25 of the recess. By reducing the sizeof the ,dog 20,as shown at 29, the dog can be swung on its pivot and out of the opening 27 even though the dog S0 in its entirety be raised too high with the higher portion of theendin contact with the upper portion 25. This is articularly so inview of the fact that in reducin the dog 20 at 29 a sharp angle is avoide y side 29 is slightly curved to merge with the upper surface of the reduced portion 29 and thus form a bearing surface to guide the dog 20, including its higher portion, out of the opening. .A guide ridv e 30may also be provided on the cover 7 or the lower side of the do 20, and stop shoulders 31, 31 to limit t e horizontal swing of the dog to a convenient range. The dog 20 may provided with a convenient lateral arm or handle 33V for manual manipulation of the dog. Preferably, provision is made for automatically having the dog 20 in release position when the cover 7 is lowered, so as to p'ass the socket 25. For this purpose, the dog 20 may `larger portion of the dog wi l contact with and ,the

be so wei hted or loaded with reference to its ivota axis 2l as to be automatically hel in released position A(ora'return to that position if displaced) while the cover'7 is raised off its seat- 8 substantial1y,as by means of an enlargement 35 at the end of the` handle 33.

What is claimed is:

1'. The combination with a tank opening cover of the character described, of restraining means movably mounted on the cover for limiting the rise thereof, and co-operating engaging means on the tank, said restraining means being releasable is partly raised. A

2. The combination with a tank opening cover `of the character described arranged to open and shut `from `and toward the opening, of restraining means for limiting rise of the cover frein the opening movable substantially horizontally with respect to the latter to dsengage said restraining means and release the cover, but releasable only when the cover is partly raised from the opening. 3. T e combination with a tank opening cover of the character described arranged to open and shut from and toward the opening, o restraining means for limiting rise of the cover from the opening movable substantially horizontally with respect to the latter, and a socket for saidl means presenting a -only when t he coverI narrowed mouth at anA intermediate point cover of the character arranged to and'^closing, of a securingdevice' pivoted 4 open and shut from and toward the opening,

tank resenting a narrowed mouth a the opening,l and a socket for said do von the A `ove the positlon of the dog when'the coverv is fullyc losed.'

. 5. The combination with a tank opening a dog pivoted on the cover-to swing sub-1 cover of the character described of means for holding the-cover tight o'n'- t e opening and restraining means for limiting rise of the cover from the opening movable substan.

tially' liorizontallywitli respect tfo the .latter to disengage said restraining means. and

vrelease the cover, but releasable only'uwhen the cover is partly raised from the opening.

6. The 'combination with a tank opening cover of the character described hingedly mounted to swing in opening and closing, of securing means mounted o n-the cover to move substantially horizontally. with respect thereto to-engage and diseiag'e with corresponding means on`the ta said'securing vmeans-being so'formedand positioned as to be automatically arranged in. release position when the cover is swung closed, so' as to pass saidmeans on the tank.

` 7.- '.lfhe combination Ywith a tank 'opening cover-o`f theA characterY described position the same,- said means mounted to swing up and down in opening on the'cover to swing thereon to engage and`dis i means on the engage with correspondiii tank, a'xid weihts on sai forautomatic ly positioning the atter in securin device such position as to pass the means on the v tank when 'the cover is\swung on its hinge to closed position.f

8. Thecombination:with a 'tank opening.. "coveixof the character described, of restrain- 'means being releasable from said.- engaging mg, means movably mounted on the cover for means only whensaid cover is in a predetermined osition. l -f A v 9. T e combination with a tank opening cover of .the character described, 'of engag` ing means mounted adjacent the cover, and

restraining means mountedon thecover and 'cooperating with said engaging means to to initially releasev x hmit vthe rise fthe-cover and able -fromfthe engal ingmeans o yjwhen said coverisinap etermined trom In witness whereof wehave ereunto. .set

"four banda "ROBERT w. JOY. 

